During the early 1960s Palm Beach County officials considered building a large
regional jetport 20 miles west of downtown West Palm Beach.County residents opposed the proposal in a 1963 referendum choosing to
keep their old airport.Plans were then made to improve the existing facilities at
Palm Beach International Airport.

The old Southern Boulevard Terminal Building.

A
$4-million Capital Improvement Program was launched under the leadership of
Aviation Director Frank Sakser.A
new $2.4-million passenger facility would replace the tiny $150,000 terminal
(that dated back to March 1953) on the south side of the airfield.

In 1964 John Marion and Associates
(architects) and Hutcheon Engineers began design work on the new facility.The terminal design team selected an International architectural style
with plenty of vertical two-story high windows.Arnold Construction started work a year later on a site situated in the
northeast quadrant of the 1,500-acre airfield near Australian Avenue and
Belvedere Road.

A stylish new Main Terminal in 1966.

On October 30, 1966 the nearly-completed terminal was dedicated during an open house event.As part of the festivities National Airlines displayed one of its brand
new Boeing 727s and there was a skydiving show by the U.S. Army Golden Knights.

Sunset views of the Main Terminal.

When completed the two-level Main Terminal had a long
rectangular-shaped layout and encompassed
150,000-square feet. The
building was 540 feet long and 100 feet wide with a height of 33 feet. Its annual rated capacity was 1.2-million passengers and
its gates could simultaneously handle eight Boeing 727-200 airliners. The
Jet-Age structure was designed for second-level boarding and when required two
additional concourses could be added increasing the number of gates to nineteen.

A Delta Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 at the Main
Terminal. Note the absence of jetways.

The 55,000 square-foot Ticketing
(lower) Level contained several departure lounges and two ticket counter islands that flanked a central
gift
shop/newsstand. Delta, National and United occupied the
east side of the terminal while Bahamas Airways, Eastern and Mackey Airlines were found in the
west. The Mezzanine Level housed a central Olympus Cocktail
Lounge/Restaurant, an
Eastern Airlines Ionosphere Club and offices.
The Mezzanine Level was open to the Ticketing Level below giving the terminal a
modern and spacious ambiance. Escalators at the opposite ends of the
building conveyed patrons between the Mezzanine and Ticketing Levels.
During this period travelers walked across the apron to reach their aircraft and
boarding was done by means of airstairs.

Left: The small building adjacent to the Main Terminal was one of the Baggage Claim
Buildings. Right: A curbside view featuring the outdoor arcade.

Baggage claim areas were located in two
smaller open-air Baggage Claim Buildings flanking the Main Terminal. Belt-type
luggage carousels and rental car facilities were featured at each building.
Outdoor arcades connected the Main Terminal to the Baggage Claim Buildings and
the US Customs House.

The rectangular-shaped parking lot
(situated a short walk away from the Main Terminal) initially contained 146
short-term and 523 long-term parking spaces.During the next two decades the parking facilities would be expanded to
ultimately accommodate 1,500 vehicles.

Airline
operations began on December 1, 1966. Over 400,000 passengers passed through the
terminal during its first year in operation. Eastern was the busiest
carrier followed by National, Delta and United Airlines. Markets receiving
nonstop service from Palm Beach included the Bahamas, Jacksonville, Miami, New York,
Orlando and Tampa.

National Airlines inaugurated wide-body service on December 15, 1971 when the carrier introduced the McDonnell
Douglas DC-10 on the New York-Palm Beach route. Eastern Airlines followed
National's lead in 1972 with the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar.

Delta Airlines opened its own
$2-million Unit Terminal on June 5, 1975. The Delta Terminal was equipped with six gates and
boasted Palm Beach International Airport's first jetways. Baggage Claim
and ticketing areas were found on the first floor and the departure lounges were
situated within the level above. A gift shop/newsstand and a restaurant were also featured at the terminal.
A
total of 173 parking spaces were available for patrons adjacent to the facility.By this time Delta Airlines was operating non-stop flights to Atlanta,
Chicago, Miami and Tampa.

Jetways were installed at the
Main Terminal during the mid 1970s when the Mezzanine-Level offices were removed
and the space was converted into departure lounges. Gates 2 thru 7 (used by
Eastern and National Airlines) were equipped with telescoping-type
loaders. Gate 1 (occupied by United) and Gate 8 (used by Mackey
International and Shawnee Airlines) remained ramp-level facilities.

The Main Terminal viewed from the curbside area of the
Delta Terminal.

Both terminals handled 785,000 passengers
in 1977. The following year Palm Beach turned into a very sought after
destination after Airline Deregulation went
into effect. The Main Terminal became a very busy place when Air Florida,
Braniff International, North Central, Ozark, Trans World Airlines and USAir began
scheduled service. Eastern, National
and United Airlines accommodated the new carriers by sharing their gates and ticket counters with them.

In an attempt to increase capacity, United
Airlines built a three-gate doglegged-shaped concourse that included a baggage
claim area. Pan American acquired National Airlines in
January 1980 and during the next few years would scale down its Palm Beach operation.

During the mid 1980s People Express
commenced scheduled service and offered $59.00 one-way fares to its Newark hub.
The former US Customs House was converted into a two-gate terminal for the
upstart carrier. Other low-cost operators that briefly served Palm Beach
International Airport during this period included New York Air, Northeastern and
Presidential Airlines.

Around this time the facilities started to
become rather congested. American, Continental, Northwest and Piedmont
Airlines made the situation much worse when they initiated scheduled
service. In 1988 the terminals handled 2-million passengers and were
operating well beyond their design capacity.

In 1984 officials had considered expanding the
Delta and Main Terminals.This
would have increased the number of gates to twenty-two and allowed the
facilities to handle 8-million passengers.Several alternative terminal concepts were also examined some employing
the existing structures.Aviation
officials
ultimately decided to build a completely new terminal.

Landside and airside views of the David McCampbell
Terminal.

Construction began on a replacement
$150-million Centralized Terminal during the mid 1980s. On October 23, 1988
the 550,000 square-foot David McCampbell Terminal opened with 25 gates and an
annual rated capacity of 7-million passengers. The Brutalist-style complex
was comprised of three passenger levels, a concession mall, two jetway-equipped
concourses and parking garages capable of accommodating 3,400 cars. The
beautiful new building could be doubled in size by expanding the Landside
Terminal and constructing two additional concourses.

After the David McCampbell Terminal opened
all airline operations were transferred there and the old terminals were
abandoned. Aviation
officials briefly considered converting the Main Terminal into an office
building.This
was later determined to be impractical due to the high costs involved in
refurbishing the structure.Sadly in 1991 the Main Terminal, Baggage Claim
Buildings and the People Express Terminal were demolished. The
demolition of the structures cost the county $1.57-million of which $793,000 was
funded by a federal aviation grant. Only the Delta
Terminal, which was being used as a storage facility, was left standing.
The building remained in non-airline use for about a decade and a half and was
regrettably razed in March 2005.

The Main Terminal's dedication plaque hangs at the David
McCampbell Terminal's Ticketing Level.

The Main Terminal's parking lot is employed as the Park
and Ride Lot.

The Main Terminal's apron is used as a remote hardstand
by Delta Airlines and other operators.

The site of the former Delta Terminal.

The Delta Terminal's airside was used as a parking lot
and storage yard for airport materials and equipment.

The Delta Terminal viewed from the Park and Ride Lot.
The building was architecturally coordinated with the Main Terminal and Baggage
Claim Buildings.

The curbside area of the Delta Terminal. Note the
old Delta Airlines signs.

This arcade once connected the Delta and Main Terminal
(note the signs).